Virginia ranks 33 out of 51 states and the District of Columbia in a Tax Foundation analysis of IRS data shows a state-by-state account of tax savings from the child tax credit. The average credit families in Virginia received for the child tax credit was $1,211.

Tax filers in Utah saw the biggest average tax savings in 2008 by claiming the child tax credit, followed by those in Idaho, Wyoming, Alaska and Nebraska, according to a Tax Foundation report based on new IRS data.

By contrast, tax filers in D.C., Florida, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey had the lowest average tax savings from the child tax credit, which allows taxpayers to claim a $1,000 credit for each dependent child under 17.

“The savings vary so much for two main reasons: Families in some states just tend to have more children, such as in Utah,” said Tax Foundation senior economist Gerald Prante, who wrote the report. “States with high rates of single households and fewer children, such as D.C. and New York, saw lower savings. Secondly, the child tax credit begins to phase out for families making over $110,000, so high-income states, such as those in the Northeast, have fewer eligible families claiming the credit.”

At the end of this year, the child tax credit is scheduled to revert from $1,000 to $500 per child as part of the general expiration of the Bush tax cuts. If that happens, the states at the top of the list would be the biggest losers while those states at the bottom wouldn’t be affected much. However, most analysts consider it unlikely that Congress would allow the popular child credit to revert to $500.